Will Google+ be a “Facebook killer” or just Google’s next failed social network? It’s certainly gaining traction, with over 500 million users now on board, already half of Facebook’s total. Then again, the average Facebook user spends nearly seven hours per month on the site—compared to just three minutes for the average Google+user. Many of this year’s best posts about Google’s newest social platform were written early in the year. Since then, though the user base has continued to grow, enthusiasm seems to have waned. So what makes Google+ special? MORE >>

While Malcolm Gladwell posited, in his book Outliers: The Story of Success , that one needs to engage in a challenging 10,000 hours of experience and practice before becoming a master, don’t let the belief that you need to accrue all 10,000 hours of challenging practice and experience before you sell yourself as a social media maven. All you need to do is know more than the person who hires you in order to become a professional. Remember, 10,000 hours signifies mastery of the sort that is considered world-class — do you need to be the best in order to make a living? MORE >>

By Ian Cleary, {grow} Contributing Columnist. It is not difficult to drive traffic to your site but what’s the point if visitors don’t stay around and read your blog post, sign up to your email list or buy your product or service? We’re all familiar with the following saying: “Traffic is Vanity, Conversion is Sanity!” ” Well, maybe you’re not familiar with that saying because I just made it up.  But it does make sense! Let’s look at five great social media tools to ensure you attract a relevant audience to your blog posts. Action: Set up Google Author.  MORE >>

The widespread adoption of Internet, social, and mobile technologies has shifted power from the producer to the consumer. In this new “techonomy,” the increasingly sophisticated and highly-connected consumer expects more from brands; he or she wants personalization, relevance, convenience, simplicity, and proximity. To stay competitive, brands need a new approach to consumer engagement and conversion. They need an integrated digital marketing strategy. The Maturation of Mobile. Over 800 million smartphones and tablets will be sold in 2012 alone. Social’s Further Integration into Business. MORE >>

It’s that time of year again, and marketers’ thoughts turn to budgeting for the next 12 months. One of the most frequent questions we’re hearing from clients during this planning season pertains to the balance between pure lead generation on the one hand, and lead nurturing on the other. Specifically, the question is: How much of our total demand generation budget should we spend on generating net new leads, and how much should we spend on converting the leads we have? The fact that B2B marketers are even asking this question shows how far demand generation thinking has progressed. MORE >>